Guardian Angel and Other Stories
by iNvIsIbLe GiRl 12
Summary: A series of oneshots from the POV of each character, ranging from pre-N2N to post-N2N. Bad summary...good story! DAN PORTION IS NOW UP! Please review!
1. Guardian Angel

**A/N**:**Ok, don't criticize me too hard. This one isn't that great. The next few are good...except that I need a story for Dan and Dr. Madden. The original one that I had was really weird. SO ANYWAY, this is my Gabe story. To clear things up, he's dead and he runs into a friend. PLEASE EXCUSE THE OBVIOUS RENT REFERENCE! I thought It would be cute...PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Next to Normal or RENT. If I did, I'd be Jonathan Larson/Tom Kitt/Brian Yorkey all put together and I'd be the coolest person alive...**

Gabe was lost, confused. He didn't know where he was. The normal perpetual darkness was gone. A light shone. A tunnel. He walked towards the light, not knowing what would come next. There was a young man standing at the end, dressed in white. He smiled as Gabe drew closer. "Hello." he said, opening his arms to the boy. Gabe nervously replied. "Hello…where am I?"

"You're dead, chico."

"I am?" The man nodded. "Where's my mommy?" Gabe asked the man.

"She's downstairs. On Earth. Don't worry, she's fine."

"B-but I want to be with my mommy. I don't want to be dead."

The man smiled. "I know. I wish I was on Earth again too. But you'll see, everything is getting better. How old are you anyway, chico?"

"I'm 4. What does chico mean?" Gabe sat down on the tunnel floor while the man explained.

"It means 'boy' in Spanish."

"What's Spanish?"

"It's the other language that I speak. I can teach you, if you want." Gabe nodded and walked with the man. "How old were you when you came here?" he asked the man.

"I was 24. I left all of the sudden. How old were you?"

"I was almost 2. I don't remember it well. It was scary though."

"It's always scary coming to a new place. But don't worry. It's even better when we get there." Gabe curiously looked up at the man and asked, "Who are you?" The man smiled as they exited the tunnel.

"My name's Angel. There's no need to worry, kid. I'm here to help you." The light grew all over and Gabe and Angel disappeared within seconds.


	2. Bedtime Stories

**A/N: Ok, this one's from Diana's POV. REALLY post-N2N. Henry and Natalie are married, just to clear up any confusion and Gabby is their daughter. The story that she tells is a little bland and boring but that's not the point of _my_story, so try to igore it's cheesiness. R&R!**

**Disclaimer: I STILL do not own Next to Normal...='(**

Diana rushed down to the hospital as soon as possible. _Here we go again…_she thought as she ran in through the glass automatic doors of the emergency room to find her now son-in-law Henry pacing while his five year old daughter Gabrielle rushed to embrace her. "Grandma, guess what? My baby sister's coming today!"

"Really, Gabby? That's wonderful news. I need to talk to your daddy real quick, ok?" She nodded and stepped out of the way as Diana walked towards Henry. "Hey. Is Natalie already in the room?"

"Yeah. The kid'll be here any minute. Hey, can you watch Gabby for me? I was going to go in with Nat when it's time and I kinda don't wanna bring her with me."

Diana smiled and nodded. "Sure. It's no problem. She needs you in there anyway."

"Thanks…I better be going then…" She hugged him and he ran off to find Natalie. "Grandma, where's mommy?" Gabby asked, somewhat concerned now. Diana bent down to the child's level and explained, "She's waiting for your sister or brother to come."

"It's gonna be a sister. I know it."

"You never know…so what do you want to do while we're waiting?" She picked the girl up and placed her on her lap as they fell into a cold hospital chair. "Tell me a story, Grandma." Diana racked her brain quickly, trying to think of a random story to tell the nervous little girl.

"Ok. Once upon a time, there was a little boy."

"Named Gabe."

"Gabe?" Diana asked Gabby, completely puzzled. The little girl nodded. "Gabe."

"Wh-where'd you get that name from?"

"He's my friend. He comes to me in my dreams. He told me that I'm gonna have a sister." A little startled, and a bit confused, Diana continued on.

"Ok. The boy's name was Gabe. He was sad because-"

"No one noticed him. And he felt alone." Diana half-smiled by now. "Yes. So one day, Gabe was playing all by himself when a little girl named Gabby came across his path. And she said-"

"'You don't have to be alone anymore. I'm here." Diana was holding back the tears, the memories of her dead son.

"Grandma? Can you finish?" She realized that Gabby was still here and she continued on. "So then Gabe said, 'Thank you, Gabby. We're going to be good friends now.' And from then on Gabe and Gabby played together everyday, always making sure that no one was ever alone again. The end."

The little girl smiled in delight. "He sounds just like that! How did you know?" Diana smiled and said to her, "Gabe is my friend too." Gabrielle giggled and embraced her grandmother.

"I love you Grandma." Diana embraced the girl as well. "I love you too, sweetie." The girl practically fell asleep in her grandmother's arms when Henry came dashing out of the little room with a huge grin on his face.

"It's a girl!" he shouted as he ran towards Diana.

"It's a girl?" Both Diana and Gabby asked. The little girl's face lit up as she whispered to her grandmother, " I told you!" Before Diana had a chance to respond, Henry picked his daughter off the ground and carried her into the little room to greet her new sister. Diana followed, watching the sheer joy on the little girl's face as she was placed beside her mother, holding the baby. She smiled at Diana who shook her head and smiled herself, thinking, _If you've done it once, Gabe, you've done it again._ She went to greet her own daughter and welcomed yet another miracle into her life.


	3. Beautiful Friendship

**A/N: This is from Natalie's POV. I just had to write this...it was too cute! Julie is my OC. She shows up a LOT in some of my other fics...so...yeah...oh! Happy Tuesday!**

**Disclaimer: Yet again, I still don't own Next to Normal. **

"But I don't _want_ to start a new school!" 10-year-old Natalie whined as her father adjusted her winter coat.

"I know, Nat, it's hard at first. You'll meet new friends, new teachers, everything's gonna be fine, ok?" She miserably nodded as she ran out to catch the bus. She never had to take a bus to school before. She'd always walk to school with her father. But she remembered what she heard the principal saying to her parents at a conference. She was a nuisance and was expected to transfer immediately. The bus arrived at a huge brick building. The terrified girl trembled into the school. The lady in the office helped her to find her room. She entered only to find all her classmates sitting with their parents.

"Oh!" the young teacher said, noticing Natalie. "Boys and girls, I'd like to introduce your new classmate Natalie Goodman. She's new here and I expect the best behavior from you!" Natalie waved slightly, feeling her cheeks burn with a flush of red. "Um, where are your parents, dear?" Natalie shrugged, trying her best not to cry.

"It's career day. All the students get to bring in their parents for a day. Would you like to go call your mom?" Natalie shook her head. She headed back to the empty desk that was hers. A few of the students laughed as they saw tears pouring down her face. She threw her head into her arms in the desk so no one could see her cry.

The teacher sighed and said, "Adam, why don't you go next?" The boy nodded and dragged his father to the front of the room. He blabbered on about how his dad was a doctor. Natalie _hated_doctors. All her life she'd been told that doctors are good people and that they're here to help you. She now knew that statement to be unbelievably false. If doctors could truly help you, then why couldn't they help her mother? Why couldn't they save her dead brother? she felt someone poke her arm. She lifted her miserable wet face to the person. It was a girl around her age. She had silky blonde hair that was put into a French braid. She smiled and said, "Hi!"

"Hi…" Natalie said back.

"Do you wanna sit with me at lunch today? My friend's absent. He'll be gone for a while. And I don't wanna be alone." She noticed that the girl's parents weren't there either.

"Why aren't you parents here?" the girl asked her.

Natalie sighed and said, "My dad's at work. He can't miss it. It's the only way we get money. My mom's in the hospital."

"For what?"

"She tried to…to kill herself again." Natalie stumbled on the word _kill._ The girl's eyes widened. "REALLY?!" Natalie shushed her and nodded.

"Why aren't _your_ parents here?" she asked the girl.

"They're in court today. They're getting a divorce." Natalie rested her head on her desk.

"I'm surprised my parents aren't divorced yet. My dad's always so stressed…and my mom…well, my mom is a whole other story." the girl nodded and said, "That's how it was with me too."

"Really?"

"Yep. So are you still sitting with me at lunch today?" Natalie nodded, half-smiling.

"Awesome. I'm Julie." She held her hand out to Natalie.

"Natalie." She grabbed Julie's hand and shook it. Both girls giggled as the bell rang for lunch. "You know what, Natalie?" Julie asked as they walked to the lunchroom.

"What?"

"I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."


	4. Perfection

**A/N: YAY! Finally my Henry story! I have no idea why, but I love writing from Henry's perspective...who cares! Everyone loves Henry! lol...R&R please...Hey! By the way, did anyone see the performance of "Something I Can't See" last week? Sadly, I didn't, but does anyone know if it's on, like, Youtube or something? Oh well...ON WITH THE STORY!**

**Disclaimer: *grumbles* I still to this day do not own Next to Normal. I'm an obsessed fanatic, but I still don't own it. If I did...hmmm...I would be bestest friends Adam Chanler-Berat (By the way, I sent him a friend request on his Facebook and he has yet to answer me.... :\)and Aaron Tveit and "Growing Up Unstable" would've made the final cut 'cause that song's been stuck in my head for THREE WHOLE DAYS!**

Henry stepped out into the cool winter air. His right arm carried his heavy book bag and the other was wrapped around his girlfriend, Natalie's shoulder. A few feet behind them lagged their other friend Julie who was staring at the couple, confused. "

I still can't believe that my two best friends are dating each other. It's just so weird."

Natalie laughed at Julie's comment as Henry burst in. "Don't think of us as a couple…think of us as…just really good friends."

"Yeah. Friends who make out with each other in the locker room after P.E."

Natalie's face turned bright red. "You saw that?"

"Hon, who _didn't _is the better question." She forced Henry's arm tighter around her shoulder, completely mortified. Julie had gone down a different street as Henry and Natalie walked up the driveway to Natalie's house. Finally alone with her, he decided to come out and say, "Natalie, can I ask you something?" She nodded, her face still a little rosy, and said, "Yeah. What is it?"

His heart leapt as he felt her hand brush up against his, He knew how high she made him feel when she was around, more high that any drug could have done. "Look, I was wondering…"

"Yeah?"

He inhaled deeply and gathered up his courage. "Will you come to this dance with me?"

"What?"

He shifted his weight and said, "It's just some spring dance the rec holds every year. You should come."

She shook her head, smirking. "Never. I don't dance. I've never been to a dance in my life and I don't plan on going to any." A bit disappointed, he clasped his hands around hers. "Come on, Nat. what's your problem?"

"I'm not going to some stupid dance." She turned around to walk into her house when he grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to him.

"Please, Natalie? At least consider it?" she tried to tug away but he pulled her closer and kissed her. She pulled away from him, a fountain of tears spurting from her eyes. She ran into her house, leaving Henry there alone.

He knew that she was just upset and that she'd be better in a day or two. He knew she'd warm up to his request later. She loved to be around him and he loved to be near her. But he knew she had it tough. She only told him about 1000 times a day. He felt bad for her. He knew he should help her, but he didn't know how. All he ever did to her was get her addicted to drugs and clubbing. The typical nightlife of the American teenager. Well, at least in his world. But he promised her, back when he first confessed his feelings to her, that he'd be perfect. And he would stop at nothing until he reached perfection. Henry was determined to help her. And if she didn't accept it, well, that was her fault. He smiled and whispered to himself,

"I can be perfect for you, Nat. I _will_ be perfect."


	5. Awkward Bonding

**A/N: RING OUT THE HALLELUJAH CHORUS! I have FINALLY UPDATED!!!!**

**Sorry for the wait…I was out of ideas…then I wrote ten other fics…then I came back to this the other day. YAAAAAY! So this is my Dan story…Sorry Dr. Madden, I'm out of ideas for you….**

**Dan and Natalie share some bonding time! Again with the references to 'he' and 'him' is Gabe. I do that a lot, so you should kind of get used to it…Reviews?**

**Disclaimer: Me: *Clears throat* Since I am lazy and bored and tired all at the same time, I will drone on about how I don't own Next to Normal, and lots of other miscellaneous subjects. Anywho, on the-**

**Guy in the Crowd: *Throws Gabe at me***

**Me: *Wide eyed* IT'S RAINING MEN!**

***I dance around like there's no tomorrow* **

**Me: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING!**

**Guy: *Throws Henry***

**Me: hehehehehehe….*runs off with my men***

The baby was crying again. Dan wearily got up from the bed to check on her, knowing that Diana would never dare to even look at her daughter. He walked slowly into the little room where the baby was supposed to be sleeping. He looked around, the fresh pink paint was already chipping. Large spots of the old baby blue color showed through, making him cringe.

The baby continued to cry on top of her lungs until she was attended to. He picked her up, trying to shut her up as best he could. He was never really good with kids. They would never listen to him, and he really couldn't give a damn about them anyway…That is, until…_he_ came along.

He shook the thought out of his mind. _He's gone…he's not here…We have Natalie now…_He remembered that he was still holding her as her cries increased. He sat down in the little rocking chair next to her crib. Her big, brown eyes stared up at him pitifully, tears still building up in them. She whimpered as her father began to rock her.

She wouldn't stop fidgeting. He was terrified that he would drop her. She gave a sort of angry glare. She just kept on crying…He knew that cry. He rolled his eyes as he whispered to the baby, "You're hungry, aren't you?"

She made a whimper of agreement and continued to cry. He turned to the table next to him, grabbing the little bottle that stood on top of it. The baby's little hands were grasping it as placed it in her mouth. She hungrily gulped down about half the bottle. Finally satisfied, the crying stopped and she cooed as her father began to rock her again.

He loved her. He had to. He was the only one who did. But he couldn't help but to compare her to _him_…He couldn't even say his name. He couldn't even call him his son. He had told himself to get over it, but he just couldn't. He knew he wanted to get all of the pain and grief off his chest, but he had to be the strong one. He had to keep their little family together.

The baby finally fell asleep in his arms. He just smiled and looked down at her. She seemed so much calmer when she was asleep. He carried her back over to the crib, kissing her forehead as he placed her back down. Just about a year ago he remember putting him in the same crib. The memories rushed back at him, but he was strong.

_Get over it, he's…he's dead…_

He told himself this, as he headed towards the door. He wouldn't miss any of her growing up for the world. She was all they had left. He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. He'd be there every step of the way. He'll be holding her hand on the first day of school, meeting her prom date, giving her away at her wedding.

He quickly turned around and whispered, "I love you, Nat."

He shut the lights off in the baby's room and walked back to his own. _Tomorrow's another day…we'll start over._ He smiled to himself and fell asleep once again.

**A/N: YAAAY! I feel like I've accomplished something….lol…ON TO MORE FICS! Watch out, new Gabe fic on the way…teehee…Reviews, anyone?**


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